Choosing and Using a DV CamcorderA DV camera enables you to capture your own video and easily import clips into iMovie via FireWire. Obtaining a DV camera can be a baffling and sometimes intimidating process. There are many brands, and each offers many models with dozens of different features. This adds up to more choices than you might want to deal with. However, by assessing a few specific factors, you can quickly reduce the dozens of choices you have to just a few:
NOTE Make sure the DV camera you get has a port that enables you to record from an external source. This is usually called an A/V port. Often, this is the same port used to export video from the camera (the same jack is used to record from a source as is used to export the video to a VCR). This feature enables you to use an analog source to capture clips for your movies (in effect, such camcorders function as digitizers). For example, you can record from a VCR and then use FireWire to transfer that footage through the DV camera into iMovie so you can use it in your movies. This is easy to do, and the quality is very good (better than with most consumer-level digitizing devices). Even better is a model that enables you to pass-through a signal so you don't even have to record it with your DV camera because the signal passes through the DV camera into your Mac (via FireWire). This means you get a higher-quality first-generation recording in your movie rather than a second-generation recording (as you would if you have to record the video on the DV camcorder before you import it into iMovie). After you have obtained a digital video camera, using one is very similar to using an analog camcorder. Hopefully, you will use a script or storyboard to plan the shooting you will do with it to get the clips from which you will build your movie. After you have captured a collection of video clips, you are ready to get into iMovie to begin making a movie. NOTE Before you start making DV movies, you should ensure that you have a lot of disk space in which to store your iMovie project. If you have 2GB or more available, you have enough to get started; however, you won't be able to store very many minutes of DV footage. If the free space is between 1GB and 2GB, you can get started, but you will have to carefully manage your disk space as you work. If you have less than 1GB of free space, you need to move some of your files off your disk because you won't have enough room for anything except the briefest of movie projects. |